MINNEAPOLIS — Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel got behind in the count 1-2 during his seventh inning at-bat Tuesday against Minnesota Twins reliever Thomas Hatch.
Teel fouled off a sweeper and then a sinker. The sixth pitch was a 93.6-mph high fastball that was out of the zone.
Teel connected for a solo home run to right-center.
It was one of four home runs for the Sox in a 12-3 victory. Fellow rookies Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth homered in Monday’s series opener, a 6-5 win.
Those were some of the latest examples of the young players making the most of big-league opportunities. Teel, Montgomery, Edgar Quero and Meidroth were in Wednesday’s starting lineup at Target Field.
Director of hitting Ryan Fuller recently discussed the progress he has seen from some of the rookies as they adapt to life in the majors.
The Sox have utilized a lineup featuring both Teel and Quero more as of late, with one catching and the other the designated hitter. Quero came into Wednesday hitting .281 with four home runs and 35 RBIs in 91 games. Teel was batting .290 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in 58 games.
“Looking at (Quero) and his numbers, it’s really encouraging,” Fuller said Sunday at Rate Field. “(On Friday), his hard-hit rate was 48%, which is well above major-league average. And that’s one of the things: His contact quality is so good, how do we use that, not just opposite field but when they’re challenging you in? Be able to hit a line drive to the pull side as well.
“His work in the cage has been really targeted of being on time, being able to hit hard line drives. For a guy — a switch-hitter, first year in the big leagues — to be able to showcase that ability to make contact, where it’s hard, as well, impressive.”
Fuller described Teel as “fearless.”
“He’s going up there trying to damage every swing,” Fuller said. “The nice part about him is there’s no sacrifice. On pitches in the zone he can handle, quality contact and the ability to go pole to pole too. We’ve seen him hit line drives all over the field.
“His conviction in, ‘I’m going up there, and I feel like I’m better than anybody I’m facing on the mound,’ it’s a really nice feeling to have that confidence up there.”
Fuller spent time with Montgomery at the organization’s Arizona facility earlier this season to make adjustments that have paid off in a major way. Montgomery entered Wednesday third on the team with 16 home runs in 48 games. He was called up July 4.
“Go back to the end of April when that decision was made to send him to Arizona, fast forward to now, obviously it looks like a really great decision,” Fuller said. “But there’s a lot of people who were involved in that process outside of me.”
Fuller credited the coaches at Triple-A Charlotte for carrying out the plan.
“But most importantly,” Fuller added, “Colson is the guy.”
“You see him up here, there’s true belief that he is a big-league game-changing player,” Fuller said. “The maturity swing-wise, I think you can go back and look at what he was doing in April, how much better he’s moving now, the pitches he’s able to cover, the velocity, breaking balls. The personality, you’re seeing him really enjoy this stage. It’s been really fun to watch. So looking at it from where he was to where he is now is a whole lot of fun, but a ton of credit to him.”
Fuller is seeing the young players grow in a variety of ways.
“You look at Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth, they’re getting significant time at the big-league level,” Fuller said. “You learn lessons when you’re up here. Colson coming up, we’re seeing the home runs, the high exit velo is really exciting.
“But the conversations you’re having with these guys are so much more mature than when you first get up here. (It was) do I belong, I’ve got to get a hit tonight, I want to impress so I can stay up here, I don’t want to go back. And these guys now are coming into the cage every day (asking) how do we beat the pitcher out there, so it’s more of a team effort. The maturity from a personality standpoint rather than just the talent on the field has been really impressive.”
Roster move
The Sox claimed infielder Ben Cowles off waivers from the Chicago Cubs and optioned him to Charlotte, the team announced Wednesday.
Cowles, 25, was designated for assignment by the Cubs on Monday. He had a .238/.304/.382 slash line with 28 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 44 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 113 games with Triple-A Iowa.
He entered 2025 rated as the No. 22 prospect in the Cubs organization by MLB.com.